Yoren could feel his heart beating nervously in his chest. It would be the very first time he was tested. He knew it was his mother's honor which was in the balance, if he failed the test, people would say he was a uneducated savage because of the way she raised him. He simply could not fail.
« -Hem... You may enter young Yoren. » The boy jumped, he has been so engrossed in his thoughts he didn't hear the Maester coming ! He silently obeied and sat on a chair.
« -Alright, we will begin with letters. Hem, do you know how to read and write ? » Maester Brumi had a parchment in his hand, Yoren could tell it was the list of the skills that were exepected from him.
Yoren felt his mouth fell open. Of course he knew how to read and write, what was this old man thinking ? He nodded to the Maester silently but the latter didn't seem very convinced. Maybe he should think about closing his mouth.
« -Hem... We will check that later. And what about calculation ? » Clearly, the Maester thought he was an total ignorant. Yoren was both angry and helpless. His nature was to be shy and he has rarely ever been so angry in his life so he had no idea of how saying it without being too rude. The Maester is someone important here, he is Father's counsellor even ! Being rude with him is a bad idea...
« -If you don't have any knowledge of that, it doesn't matter. Hem, I will teach you. You're tested so I know what to teach you, you know. » His flat tone was full of contentment, like if the man was thinking « I told you so ». What did he say, and more importantly to who ? Yoren knew there was something like that. Mother taught him how to identify lies and untold secrets after all. And the rule number one is « trust your guts ». And his guts were telling him that the Maester was hosile towards him, in all likelihood in Lady Tasha's side... Yoren was sure the man will try to influence his father in his decisions... He will have to put all his trust in his father's legendary Baratheon stubborness...
« -I know how to count and calculate. Mother taught me. It was one of the rare thing she was better at than her sister Sansa when they were children. » Yoren smiled on the inside, that was good, he told what he had to tell in a polite way ! Sometimes, it is good to be shy, you have more time to think about what you are going to say !
« -Very well, we'll check that later too. Hem, and do you know another language ? Like low Valiryan for example. Your Lord father wants you to learn it. » Did the man live under a rock ? Everyone knew that his mother lived in Braavos for years... Of course she taught him low Valiryan, he's fluant in this language !
« -I grew up at New Dawn, the city funded by Mother. There are people from all around the world there, so I learnt a lot of languages... Uncluding low Valiryan. »
The Maester began the test, it was easy at the begining. He tested him on writing and reading first, which was easy for Yoren. He hadn't read many books in his life for New Dawn didn't have a library yet but he helped Mother with the trade pacts parchment for years ! It also helped him when calculation came ! He had always love to count how many exotic goods arrived, how many of their production was sent away. He used to dream he would one day travel with them, to the edge of the world.
Yoren loved the astonished expression of Maester Brumi's face ! And this expression even increased when he gave him a text to translate in low Valiryan !
Even if Yoren was having a great time showing to this all-knowing Maester that his mother educated him in a good way, he was also having a problem. It began with his feet, always moving, then his legs. He had trouble focusing, the more time he spent seated, the less he was focused. He was conscious of it, but he coulnd't help it. He has never been taught in this static way ! He learnt during explorations, walking and running and climbing ! He was used to always be in motion. He tried to take it on the chin even if it was hard. The test was almost finished, in a few minutes he would be free. He would find Arya and Davos and begin their training. It would be fun and he would get to know them better. « Think about that. » was his new motivation sentence.
« -Hem, well... hem, I have to say I'm quite surprised, in a good way ! You do know a lot a things already. You are free to go now, young Yoren. I will see you tomorrow morning. »
Yoren didn't need to be told twice, he looked at the Maester as he reached the door, the man seemed lost and deep in thoughts... Yoren almost wanted to tell him Mother taught him herbology and history too (even if very little of the latter) but he knew better than that, he had to try to be in this important person's good books.
Now, he was looking for Arya and Davos. Where were they ? Father has agreed on the fencing lessons ans Lady Tasha kept silent about them, so it was alright. He will begin with Davos's room, when he was not in the library, he was there most of the time. Sometimes because he wanted to read in a quiet place, some other times because he was ill. His health was still fragile, since he was born an entire moon before his time...
Yoren began to climb the stairs as fast as he could when he bumped into someone. Years of water dance training helped him keeping his balance. He has closed his eyes by reflex and when he reopened them, he saw red and orange and bright green. Maybe he did fell after all and hit his head hard in the process.
« -Here you are my boy. I was looking for you ! So this boring Maester let you go sooner than exepcted ! Very good, follow me now. » In fact, the very bright colorsYoren saw were those of the man's clothes. And what awful clothes they were ! The boy did as he was told and followed the strange man who apparently had an horrible taste in clothing.
He led the boy to the kitchens, there took a wooden stool and sat, gesturing to Yoren to do the same. He served them two goat milk glasses himself, not asking a servant to do it Yoren noticed. He liked that.
« -Well lad, you must wonder who I am, right ? Of course you do ! I'm Ser Hillin, your Lord Father's most trusted advisor ! An old friend of Lord Davos Seaworth himself, I met him when we were both smugglers. » Yoren tried to find kind words of welcoming he coulnd't think of one. This man's open friendliness was very unsettling for him, he had never met someone like that in his all life, a short one that's true but full of meetings and encounters. But he was like his mother, a person of few words before all.
But the man didn't let to Yoren the time to feel embarrassed about his silence and kept talking and talking and talking... The boy was amazed, did this man never need to drink or breathe ? And what he said was interesting besides !
« -So lad, tell me more about the legend that happens to be your mother ! How did she met your father ? And how did they manage to keep it a secret ? I mean, no singer ever sang about those two, not a single word ! Don't be shy and tell me ! » He leaned towards Yoren a bit, as if to make him understand it will stay a secret between them.
« -Well, to be honest I don't know more about it than you. Ser. » He added the tittle a bit late, he always forgot to add titles when he spoke to someone. No one had titles at New Dawn.
« -I tried to ask some questions to Mother when I was younger but she looked so sad whenever I did that I stopped. So I don't know much, really. I only know they travelled together when they were children, that's all. And that they were reunited at Winterfell, just before the Battle for Dawn. »
Ser Hillin seemed a bit disapointed... But not desperate yet !
« -Well lad, maybe your father will be more talkative with you... You should try and ask a few questions... He seems rather fond on you, you know. » He winked at Yoren whose world just wided. Of course he could ask questions to Father, how did he not think about it sooner ? He was aching to know more about their love story and how and most of all why they parted all those years ago.
« -Hey, my boy, do you hear me ? You were already thinking about questioning your lord father, weren't you ? Good, because I - like all the people who know about your existence - am very curious about those two... »
Yoren was about to tell him that he will keep to himself everything he could possibly learn, it was his parents's story, not his to share but the talkative Ser Hillin cut him short...
« -But let's go down to business. I wanted to speak to you for another reason. You see, my beloved wife Depha is barren. So, I always treated and loved your siblings like my own children. Or grand-children since I'm older than your lord father. When I have to travel, I always bring gifts to them. But since I didn't know about you, I didn't take anything for you... So I thought about something... »
Yoren was intrigued, a gift ? What could it possibly be ? He hoped it wasn't an eloborated trap set by Lady Tasha... He feared she wasn't finished with him yet... But he remembered the first rule « trust your guts. » And his guts were telling him that the man was trustworthy.
« -You don't need toys and armors and weapons my boy. You're just a poor bastard after all, without name or lands or titles. What you need is knowledge. And judging by your early release this morning, I guess you do know some things already. But I'll teach you how to trade, foreign languages, how to make a place for yourself in this world so cruel to outcasts like us. So, what do you say about this ? »
Ser Hillin wanted to teach him ? That was great ! After all, he was a man of the people who has been knighted and who was advisor to a high Lord ! That was an impressive carrer history ! Yoren guessed he had a lot to learn from the man ! So, he silently nodded with a smile on his lips.
« -Alright my young apprentice. Lesson number one : use your tongue by the Seven ! If you want to impress people, knowledge is essential but how will you show it if you don't talk ? Words are a tool of work, sometimes even a weapon ! You have to force youself to talk more... »
Ser Hillin was right, his test with Maester Brumi showed it earlier, letters and foreign languages are very important ! « -Will I have to talk as much as you ? » The words slipped out of his mouth before he had a chance to make them vanish in his mind. That was rude he could tell... Oh gods... The knight's face showed surprise at first then a amusement. « -Well, you understood the spirit boy but do be careful about who is your interlocutor... Some of them would not be as a good sorts as me... »
After that, they talked until lunch. Ser Hillin was very pleased by Yoren's knowledge and Yoren feeled so relaxed and calm by his side, so much calmer than at his father's side when he thought about it. Well, it must be said that the man was very impressive and intimidating... Yoren never felt worthy to be at his side and his father never asked things to him... Mother always says he took his shyness from his father, so, when it come to communication, they were up in a creek without a paddle. Like father, like son...
Ser Hillin showed Yoren the way to go to the banquet room. The boy still wasn't used to the hugeness of the castle and had still trouble to find his way. In the nature, you could follow the course of the sun, the direction of the wind, the positions of the stars... But in a castle, the only thing you could do when you're lost was asking your way... Yoren was an independant boy and hated doing this !
Ser Hillin wished him a good evening. « -I exepect to see you on the beach at the begining of tomorrow afternoon, my young apprentice. We'll go to the island ofTarth ! »
Yoren coulnd't help to feel exicted ! Tomorrow, he would go the the island of Tarth, the island where Ser Brienne, the first female knight of the Six Kingdoms was born ! He wanted the sun to disappear already, the moon to race the sky to let the sun rise again.
Yoren had his head in the clouds and because of that and dind't feel immediatly the gleeful and yet a bit melancholic atmosphere. Straigtening his head, he tried to croos Arya's or Davos's eyes to learn more but it was Lady Tasha's eyes he met across the table... She smiled at him with a eering joy.
« -Well, since you were late to dinner, you didn't hear the great new I just announced. Maester Brumi is certain of it : I'm pregnant again ! »